What happened to our defence from last year to this year ?

[mcHAPPY]

He could have been a long time lurker who finally got the balls to start posting...

The same emoticons often in triple

The same punctuation marks often in triple with spaces in front and back end.

The same style and dismissal of any argument with "I am too busy to reply"

The same borderline trolling technics.


It isn't about a difference of opinion. I'm fine with that. It is calling a spade a spade....welcome back jamshid.

[distorsun]

Thx, you just saved me some time.

It is simple, he is a one trick pony and other teams have found him out.

When Zach Lowe is writing a breakdown of the defense and how to beat it (in early February I believe), one would think nba coaching staffs were weeks ahead of the observations.

His lack of awareness and inability to react and change is painfully obvious in more than just his defensive schemes.

[distorsun]

Stotts ...I read about him. Does Portland has any elite defenders ???

I just meant that nobody talked about how stellar their D is (good sure, compared to some of their other years under Dirk, but not like it was elite). It didn't become a story until they beat Miami. And that was with some ideal pieces for his system.

Not to mention that Casey somehow gets all the credit for that even though Carlisle, a very good defensive coach and much better head coach, was leading the team. And on top of that, Stotts, another coach from the same team, took the same defensive principles to Portland, then saw he had to change them due to personnel, and they became better.

[Mindlessness]

Stotts ...I read about him. Does Portland has any elite defenders ???

Batum I guess. Matthews and Afflalo are above-average, though Matthews is out. Batum has a wrist injury as well if I'm not mistaken, not sure how that affects him defensively.

Their defense is - last I checked - 4th in DRtg? It's crazy how Stotts has them playing that well defensively.

[distorsun]

Nice little interview about SYSTEM & PERSONNEL (John Hollinger, VP Basketball Operations)

http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/cat...me/truehoop-tv

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Some random thoughts (aka I don't know the answer to OP's question):

Casey is a good guy and I was really happy to have him the first few months after the Triano era - it was awesome to see the team play (and win by playing) defense again.

It's been all downhill from those first few months, with largely the same personnel. Clearly the system depends on a healthy Amir and doesn't fit Jonas very well. Also, it seems to require a lot of energy and sustained attentiveness, which this team doesn't seem to be able to maintain. Even the Heat dropped off in Spo's system eventually - they looked a lot less defensively intimidating their last year together and then they got carved up by the Spurs.

Other teams have adjusted to expose the Raps and Casey hasn't adjusted or tweaked much of anything, as far as I can see. After seeing their defensive system basically not work for this entire season, do you think the personnel really believes in it anymore?

Great coaches adjust and evolve. Carlisle and Pops have changed systems dramatically and managed to continue to win. A couple years ago Spo and Thibs had these fantastic defenses than nobody knew how to beat - well now the Spurs, Hawks, and GS are pretty well publicized solutions for hyperactive defenses (Spo) and overloading the strong side (Thibs). The defensive coaches need to take the next step to find the best ways to disrupt great ball movement and multiple shooters (if they can). Somehow I don't think Casey is going to be a defensive innovator who's going to develop the next great NBA defense.

[slaw]

Casey got credit when the Raps defense improved, so what's wrong with giving him blame when the Raps defense turns to shit.

Goose, meet Gander.

What if he got too much credit for the first and too much blame for the second?

[McRealistic]

What if he got too much credit for the first and too much blame for the second?

Very True. Also, I think a lot of our problems are the fact that we don't have Amir Johnson of last year. I think Amir played a huge role in defence last year and now, we are feeling the void.

[psrs1]

Very True. Also, I think a lot of our problems are the fact that we don't have Amir Johnson of last year. I think Amir played a huge role in defence last year and now, we are feeling the void.

We need to part ways with Amir. Perhaps go for Milsap.

[McRealistic]

We need to part ways with Amir. Perhaps go for Milsap.

That unfortunately might be True. Amir is ONLY a shadow, a shell of himself.

[The Great One]

We need to part ways with Amir. Perhaps go for Milsap.

Agreed.

Amir is only 28 years old but the guy plays like he's 38. There's no way he's a Raptor next season.

[slaw]

What's shocking to me is that there is so much confusion on the floor. Two plays against Chicago stood out.

The first was Derizan and Patterson getting hung up on the same screen allowing a wide open curl to the basket. That cannot happen. Both players looked to the bench after like, "what happened?". Leo even commented on it.

The second was a play where Gasol went baseline and was pinned under the basket in the air with nowhere to go and found a wide open shooter in the corner for a three cause Vasquez was inexplicably running to the middle of the key to help instead of cutting off the only passing lane! If he had just stood still the pass would have hit him in the chest. Afterward, you could see the looks of disbelief on the floor.

Not sure how you can have such poor effort and execution at this point in the season.

[OakTree]

That unfortunately might be True. Amir is ONLY a shadow, a shell of himself.

Statistically he's pretty much the exact same Amir.

Besides, I don't think Amir is the difference between a top 10 defense last year and a bottom 10 defense this year.

[McRealistic]

Statistically he's pretty much the exact same Amir.

You might be right. I am not sure about statistics but I know that everyone always said, what Amir usually does, is the little things that do not show up on stat sheets or statistically.

Again, you could be right and statistically, it is the same Amir as last year but he sure does not look it on the floor anymore.

[DanH]

Statistically he's pretty much the exact same Amir.

Besides, I don't think Amir is the difference between a top 10 defense last year and a bottom 10 defense this year.

His advanced impact stats are WAY down this year.

[OakTree]

His advanced impact stats are WAY down this year.

Well, if you're going to make a statement like that you should back it up. And try not to exaggerate.

ORTG is up 2 points, DRTG is down 3 points.

PER, TS% are about the same. (He's still top 10 all time in FG% and 4th in the league this year).

Rebounding percentages are down a little, block percentage is down a little also.

Steals, assists, turnover percentages are all around the same.

Usage is down a little.

Win shares are down 6.3 to 4.4, which is still a good number.

OBPM is up, DBPM is down, but still positive. (Lou Will puts up a -3.8 DBPM, and Greivis a -2.2 - which should be a red flag).

Amir is still an effective player, and on a good contract.

Summary: stop shitting on Amir. He is a good player on a good contract. Successful teams keep guys like that around.